A facile method for boosting the graphitic carbon nitride's photocatalytic activity based on 0D/2D S-scheme heterojunction nanocomposite architecture

Abstract

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) has received significant interest as a metal -free photocatalyst. The S -scheme photocatalytic system has great potential to improve the charge separation in semiconductor photocatalysts. In this study, we have fabricated non-toxic and low-cost photocatalytic nanocomposites of 0D/2D S -scheme heterojunction composed of iron oxide and graphitic carbon nitride by a facile method. The developed facile method provides a sustainable way with a high atom economy to further enhance the photocatalytic performance of exfoliated g-C 3 N 4 . The 0D -iron oxide/2D-C 3 N 4 exhibited nearly 10 times better than bulk g-C 3 N 4 and almost 60 % better than exfoliated g-C 3 N 4 under simulated solar light irradiation. The experimental results demonstrated that the effective charge -carrier mechanism led to an improved generation of reactive oxygen species (ROSs), resulting in an impressive photocatalytic performance. A serial photocatalytic test was also conducted to understand photocatalytic reaction mechanisms with various scavengers.